FAMILY, I— PERCIILE. 15 



rounded angles. Scales — ctenoid. Colours — deep grey, with round Hack spots somewhat distantly placed on 

 the head, pectoral, and ventral fins : oval spots, having their longest diameter vertical, exist in the anterior half 

 of the body, becoming more like short thick sinuous lines on the last half. A black edge along the top of the 

 spinous dorsal, and some cloudy interspinous marks : the soft dorsal, anal, and caudal with a black edge and 

 white margin. 



Bleeker, in his excellent revision of the Epinephelini, observes that he possesses a beautiful series of 

 specimens of this species showing the successive transitions in colour, which certainly varies very considerably. 

 The young (maculatus), according to Bloch's figure, appears to have a light ground colour with a dark band over 

 the head : a second, from the second to the fifth dorsal spine, passing downwards, encloses the pectoral, and 

 ventral fins : a third from the soft dorsal passes down to the whole of the anal : one more exists over the free 

 portion of the tail, and two on the caudal fin ; a dark horizontal band appears to connect the others along the 

 middle of the body. 



The specimen figured (7 inches in length) from the Andaman Islands agrees with Kner's S. longispmis. 

 The type specimens of S. Gaimardi in the Paris Museum have a much higher body comparatively, whilst the 

 longest dorsal spine scarcely exceeds the length of the rays. 



Habitat. — East coast of Africa, seas of India, Andamans to the Malay Archipelago, and China. 



8. Serranus flavo-cssruleus, Plate III, fig. 1. 



Holocentrus flavo-cawuleus, Lacep. iv, pp. 331, 367. 

 Holocentrus gymnosus, Lacep. iii, pi. 27, fig. 2, and iv, pp. 335, 372. 

 Bodianus macrocephalus, Lacep. iii, pi. xx, f. 2, and iv, pp. 281, 293, 295. 

 Perea flava-purpurea, Benn. Fish. Ceylon, p. 19, pi. 19. 



Serranus Borbonicus, Quoy and Gaim. Voy. Uranie, Poiss. p. 313, pi. 57, f. 2. 



Seiranus flavo-cairuleus, Cuv. and Val. ii, p. 297; Peters, Wieg. Arch. 1855, p. 236; Gunther, Catal. i, 

 p. 145. 



Cynichtliys flcwo-purpuratus, Swains. Fish, ii, p. 202, f. 42, c. (head).. 

 Hpineplielus flavo-cceruleus, Bleeker, Fish. Madagascar, p. 17. 

 Mungil cullaivah, Tarn. : Kaha-laweyah, Cingalese. 



B. vii, D. ^ Vy, P. 17, V. 1/5, A. T %, C. 17, L. r. m, L- tr. 22/-. 



Length of head 3/10, of caudal about 1/5, height of body 3/10 of the total length. Eyes — diameter 

 2/9 to 2/11 of the length of head, 1| diameters from the end of snout and 1 apart. The maxilla reaches to below 

 the hind edge of the orbit. Preopercle with its vertical limb finely serrated, more coarsely so at its angle, 

 where occasionally they are almost spinate :* lower limb, sub- and inter-opercles entire. Central opercular spine 

 rather strong. Teeth — small canines in either jaw, the outer row in the maxilla and the inner in the mandible, 

 larger than the villiform bands. Fins — dorsal spines rather strong, increasing in length to the third which 

 equals about 3/8 of the height of the body, and is rather longer than the soft portion of the fin which, as well as 

 that of the anal, is rounded : pectoral as long as the head behind the middle of the eye : ventral reaches three- 

 fourths of the distance to the vent : second anal spine not quite so long as the third : caudal emarginate. Scales 

 — ctenoid on the body, thickly covering the snout, pre- and sub-orbitals, likewise the posterior hah? of the 

 maxilla : about 18 rows between the lateral-line and the sixth dorsal spine : those on the chest and abdomen very 

 small, about 65 rows between the lateral-line and the median line of the abdomen. Colours — head and body of 

 a deep purplish blue : free portion of the tail and all the fins gamboge yellow : some yellow on the snout, maxilla, 

 chest, and opercular spines : an indistinct darkish baud along the base of the spinous and first third of the rayed 

 portion of the dorsal fin : ventral, and caudal with fine black tips. 



Jerdon says (M. J. L. and Sc. 1851), p. 129, " Serrawus flavo-purpureus, Bennett. This very beautiful 

 fish is very rare at Madras. I never saw but one specimen. I procured, the very young at the Sacrifice rocks on 

 the Malabar Coast, it looked like a living sapphire." Bennett observes that it is scarce on the southern coast of 

 Ceylon, in the course of two years having met but with one specimen. 



Habitat. — Seas of India to the West coast of Africa. The specimen figured was from the Andaman 

 islands, and is nearly 10§ inches in length. 



9. Serranus fasciatus, Plate III, fig. 2. 



Perca fasciata, Forsk. p. 40 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1316. 



Epinephelus marginalis, Bl. t. 328, fig. 1 ; Bl. Schn. p. 300. 



Holocentrus erythrceus, Bl. Schn. p. 320. 



Holocentrus oceanicus, marginatus, Forskalii et rosmarus, Lacep. Poiss. iv, pp. 377, 384, 389, and 392, t. 7, 

 fig. 2 and 3. 



Serranus marginalis, Cuv. and Val. ii, p. 302 ; Richards. Ich. China, p. 233 ; Bleeker, Perc. p. 34 ; Peters, 

 Fish. Mossamb. p. 235, and Monats. Ak. Wiss. Berlin, 1865, p. 109 ; Gunther, Catal. i, p. 135 ; Kner, Novara 

 Fische, p. 24 ; Playfair, Fish. Zanzibar, p. 7. 



Serranus variolosus, Cuv. and Val. ii, p. 354 ; Gunther, Catal. i, p. 139 (not syn.) 



* On the right side of one specimen there are two almost spinate teeth at the angle, as described by Bleeker, they are not thus 

 present on the left side, where however the serrations are somewhat coarse. 



